albariño

noun

al·​ba·​ri·​ño

variants or Albariño

ˌäl-bə-ˈrēn-(ˌ)yō 

plural albariños or Albariños

: a richly flavored white wine from the Galicia region of Spain

Good albariño can be very serious wine, with enormous intensity of flavor and a subtle, layered mouth-feel framing its lively acidity.

—John Winthrop Haeger, Saveur, May 2006

also : the grape from which this wine is made

Grown on the rainy, green Galician coast, Albariño is Spain's breakout white grape.

—Richard Nalley, Food & Wine, September 2002

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Galician albariño "light-colored grape variety from which a white wine is made," derivative of albariño, diminutive or attenuating derivative of albar "white, bright white," probably going back to Vulgar Latin *albar- (in Latin albāris, albārius "of stucco or stuccowork"), from Latin albus "white" + -āris -ar

First Known Use

1972, in the meaning defined above

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